December 5, 2013
1. Title
A Balanced Approach to Bilingualism
2. Question and reason for your
interest in the question
How can a child’s mother tongue be maintained in
order for a bilingual child to sustain bilingualism? Bilingualism consists of
an equal balance of knowledge of two languages. Many bilingual children lose
their ability to speak, maintain, and advance their mother tongue.
I am also interested in learning about concerns
that parents of bilingual children have regarding learning a second language.
3. What did you learn from current
research (your lit review) that you will use in planning and implementing your
action project?
Current research shows that children’s executive
function and metalinguistic awareness benefits from maintaining a balance of knowledge
of two languages.
4. Method- how will you go about
investigating your question?
I plan on working with parents whose children
attend a Polish-English preschool in Sterling Heights, a Head Start program in
Pontiac, and an Immersion Cantonese-English Kindergarten in Utica Community
School District. I will pass out a questionnaire, share a pamphet, and then
pass out a questionnaire again. I want to see how and if parent’s views on
bilingualism changed after reading the informative pamphlet.
5. Timeline (between now and about
mid-March)
In January I will introduce myself to the teachers and parents of the three early childhood programs and pass out the questionnaires. By the beginning of February I will have processed the replies. I will then formulate and tailor the information I have learned in the literature reviews to benefit the parents of each early childhood program. By the end of February I plan on passing out the questionnaire again to see how and if the parent views on bilingualism have changed.
In January I will introduce myself to the teachers and parents of the three early childhood programs and pass out the questionnaires. By the beginning of February I will have processed the replies. I will then formulate and tailor the information I have learned in the literature reviews to benefit the parents of each early childhood program. By the end of February I plan on passing out the questionnaire again to see how and if the parent views on bilingualism have changed.
6. What data will you collect and
how will you analyze it/make sense of it?
I
will collect parent’s opinions and views on bilingualism.
7. Do you have any anticipation of
results? What? Are they related to your review of the research? Personal
experience? Both?
I anticipate that most parents who choose to involve their children in bilingual programs will have knowledge and an interest to continue and nurture their children’s knowledge of two languages. I am weary of how people will respond to certain questions and hope that they do not have negative feelings or responses to them. One concern is bringing up how some teachers and parents still believe that their children’s learning of English will be negatively affected if they speak their home language. Another concern of mine is that some parents also believe that their children will be stereotyped and their learning will be negatively impacted in school if they speak a language other than English and they rename their children with English names in an attempt to hide their linguistic identity. Young children may resist using their first or home language, especially if they view the language of the school as having higher status. How can this be prevented? How can maintaining a mother tongue be supported? Researchers have consistently shown that children’s language and literacy learning are enhanced if they learn to read and write initially in their first language.
I anticipate that most parents who choose to involve their children in bilingual programs will have knowledge and an interest to continue and nurture their children’s knowledge of two languages. I am weary of how people will respond to certain questions and hope that they do not have negative feelings or responses to them. One concern is bringing up how some teachers and parents still believe that their children’s learning of English will be negatively affected if they speak their home language. Another concern of mine is that some parents also believe that their children will be stereotyped and their learning will be negatively impacted in school if they speak a language other than English and they rename their children with English names in an attempt to hide their linguistic identity. Young children may resist using their first or home language, especially if they view the language of the school as having higher status. How can this be prevented? How can maintaining a mother tongue be supported? Researchers have consistently shown that children’s language and literacy learning are enhanced if they learn to read and write initially in their first language.
